Beketov back on his feet, and a long road awaits

Mikhail
Beketov can walk now--using an artificial leg and propping himself on crutches. He's
moving around his house in the Moscow suburb of Khimki. It was here, in his
front yard, where the newspaper editor was attacked two years and seven months
ago. It was in this yard where assailants left him for dead. The fact that Beketov can stand on his own again is testament
to the sheer strength of the man, whom friends describe as a born fighter. He
could be obstinate, they say, and that's why he would never turn away from what
he believes in.

Like the preservation of the Khimki forest, a green
zone stretching across 2,500 acres north of Moscow. A federal project with
clear dividends for a Khimki administration headed by a powerful mayor, Vladimir
Strelchenko, the new highway to connect Moscow with
St. Petersburg will devastate the forest.
President Dmitry Medvedev briefly
suspended the road's construction in August 2010, reacting to
voluminous protests by environmental defenders. But now the project has
been resumed. There is no Khimkinskaya Pravda--Beketov's fiercely independent newspaper, which
he had devoted himself to--to protest now. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin used the occasion of meeting with French investors in Paris to reassure the
road builder, the French construction group Vinci, that the highway would be
completed, the English-language Moscow
Times reported. Putin apologized to Vinci about the delay.

While Vinci got an apology, Beketov's assailants are
still at large. Last November, Russia's top investigative official, Aleksandr
Bastrykin, ordered the probe
into the attack reopened; the case is now with the
Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Moscow Region. But thus
far detectives have reported no progress.

I
asked Lyudmila Fedotova, head of the Foundation to Help Journalist Mikhail
Beketov, to show me the spot Beketov was found lying after the attack. A metal
fence shields the stone-paved front yard from the street. But not entirely so.
There are several houses across the street, facing Beketov's. Were all
neighbors questioned? Didn't anyone hear what was bound to be quite a commotion
only yards away? Did detectives review video recordings from security cameras
in the vicinity? These are questions the investigators have yet to answer.

After spending two years in the hospital undergoing
multiple surgeries and extensive treatment, Beketov is back home. Friends take
care of him, and care he needs. When attackers struck to kill in November 2008,
they broke Beketov's skull, smashed the fingers of both hands, knocked out numerous teeth,
and broke his legs (one leg had to be amputated). The head injuries were so
extensive Beketov lost the ability to speak. Neurologists were able to
partially restore speech with medication earlier this year, but the effect was only
temporary. As before, Beketov is able to understand but unable to communicate in
return.

He
needs treatment at a specialized clinic. Through this blog, Beketov's friends asked
me to spread their appeal: They are ready to give access to Beketov's detailed medical
diagnosis to candidate clinics abroad that specialize in restoring speech after
extensive trauma. Is there a clinic capable and willing to treat Beketov? Such
treatment is crucial to his further recovery.

For
now, the days pass slowly. Beketov has constant help from a live-in former
colleague. Friends visit regularly. He plays chess, watches television, takes
walks. He often consults his clock. "He lives by the minute," a friend tells
me, "and he hates to wait." So do those who want justice. After almost three
years, they are losing patience.

(Reporting
from Khimki)

Nina Ognianova is coordinator of CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program. A native of Bulgaria, Ognianova has led CPJ advocacy missions to Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.